In reply to that part of your note of day calJing upon me to clear up what you are pleased to call & aspersions (to wit) "that owing to the great wa11t of discipli11e on the Island, & the peculiar & unpleasant circumstances by which I have been surrounded, resultina in !!l'eat nicasure from liberties that you have given persons to dep;site"on the Pocket private stores, and sell liquor, I have often been very much annoyed by persons from the lslanrl," I have only to say that it is truly unfortunate that there is, & has been, great want of discipline on the Island, but that it is attributable to you is by no means my prerogative to say. Did you not give Captain John F. Martin, liberty to deposite & sell stores on the Pocket? Did you not give Mr. Boylan liberty to sell any portion of his interest as captor, in the cargo of Fanny Butler, and were you not aware that a portion of that cargo consisted of Liquors? I have been informed that such liberties have been granted by you, & consequently, have . suffered them to be exercised. Jt was by no means my intention in alluding to "want of discipline & liberty granted" to prefer charges or asperce your character, I was called upon by you to state, "what was the greatest number of persons I had ever entertained on the Pocket at any one time" I answered that "o\\~ng to great want of discipline on the Island & liberties granted I have been annoyed &c &c" Liberty to deposite liquor, and men to leave the Island without permission, it being under martial law, and you in command, my object was to answer the questions candidly & make such showing as would release me from censure. In conclusion permit me to repeat that the misunderstand- ing would not have originated had your note of yesterday contained the same explanations as that of today. It has been my fixed purpose to discharge any official duties faithfully, to avoid difficulties and, if possible, suppress measures calculated to pros- trate official dignity, wrest from officers their power to command, & consequently introduce into the camp riotous & mutinous dispositions.
W. Lawrence Qr. M. Texas Army
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